Less Than 24 Hours (Part 2)

Matthew picked up the end of the garden hose and in that instant, the sound of water splashing on the cemented ground was heard.

As if realizing what is going to happen, Franklin Amudsen started to thrash on the top of the board. "No…no…no…Please! I am begging you! Please! Stop this! I will give you anything you want! Please!" But his words fell on deaf ears.

Not receiving a response, Franklin Amudsen started to cry. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for killing you. I'm sorry for killing them," He sounded sincere while he apologized to the woman he abused and killed. He sounded like he really regretted doing sins. It might cleanse him from his unrighteousness. He would have been forgiven. But will it save him from damnation?

Unfortunately, Timothy, Matthew, Nic, Mason, and Daxon were not God. They were the ones that will send him to hell for the sins he had done.

Matthew passed the end of the garden hose to Timothy where the water splattered at the end of his pants but he didn't care.

Holding the garden hose, Timothy walked toward Franklin Amudsen who had stopped thrashing and was just murmuring inaudible words as if he had lost hope of salvation. Timothy placed the hose over Franklin Amudsen's face and let the water saturate the fabric. Once the fabric was saturated, it covered Franklin Amudsen's mouth and nose, restricting his airflow. His head thrashed from side to side. He tried to move his legs and arms but he was bound so he couldn't do anything but wait until air left his body.

But just when he felt as if his chest was about to explode, Timothy removed the water, and then, Daxon removed the fabric from his face making Franklin Amudsen gasp and take in a huge amount of air. But he was only allowed four full breaths before the fabric covered his mouth and nose again and water was poured over his face.

It was as if Franklin Amudsen was drowning and when he was about to die, someone pulled him out of the water only to drown him again.

The cycle continued until Franklin Amudsen was begging them to just kill him. And they will do just that.

Hours later, Matthew found himself with Mason in a small ranger's cabin at the foot of a mountain near the city. It was a cabin that was built for the mountain rangers to take a rest. It was currently empty because the rangers had taken off to the mountain and will return in just a couple of hours.

They were dressed in black overall suits that covered them from head to toe. Their eyes wore goggles and their faces were covered with black face masks.

Since the cabin is for everyone to use, Matthew and Mason found it unlocked. They walked back to the car that they rented using a fake identity and dragged Franklin Amudsen's body out of it. He is not dead…at least not yet. His body was just too exhausted after being waterboarded the whole day with only a few minutes of rest.

"It is about to rain. You better move fast," Matthew heard Nic's voice from their earpiece.

"We are moving fast. This guy is just too heavy. Did you feed him a whole cow?" Matthew said in a strained voice as his gloved hand tried not to let Franklin Amudsen's body from slipping down.

"Why don't you just check the whole damn place? The last thing we need is a mountaineer suddenly showing up. Before we know it, we are already in deep trouble faster than Liv could put herself into," Mason said, earning him a glare from Matthew.

"The coast is clear. Just hurry and get the hell out of there. The rain is going to clear your traces," This time it was Daxon.

Apparently, Timothyothy knew that it was going to rain in that part of the mountain where there is a ranger's cabin. He checked the schedule of the rangers and used that chance to send Franklin Amudsen to his final destination without leaving a trace that it was them who did it.

No security or traffic camera caught Matthew and Mason going there. And if ever there is, they will not be identified. The car they rented was not even named to them and they were not the ones to get it.

Timothyothy arranged it so that they will never be caught.

Minutes later, Matthew and Mason stepped out of the cabin where Franklin Amudsen was left with a rope wrapped around his neck hanging on the beam of the cabin.

"Man, I smell. How am I going to meet Luisa later?" Mason said as soon as they entered Timothy's apartment. They had already ditched and burned the overall suit they wore earlier.

"Who is Luisa?" Daxon, who was sitting on Megan's chair again, since Megan is on duty asked.

"His current fuck buddy," Nic replied.

"Go soak yourself in bleach," Matthew told Mason but didn't get a response because Mason is already in Timothy's bathroom.

After torturing Franklin Amudsen for one last time and then making it seem like he committed suicide in a ranger's cabin, they met at Timothyothy's apartment because they still have a lot of things to talk about.

Matthew was actually looking forward to it because it has something to do with Jove Latimer whom his trouble-chasing woman is currently looking into.

"So, what did Tim get?" Matthew asked as he sat on the sofa looking at Timothy as if he was not there.

"Let's go find out," Nic said as he also looked at Timothy who was either ignoring their presence even though Nic and Daxon had been with him since they left the underground facility or he was just too busy in front of his computers to care about them.

When Timothy continued to ignore them, Daxon called his attention. "Hey, Tim,"

But Timothy just continued to stare at his computers as if it was more interesting and important than his friends which in some sense, really is.

Matthew, Nic, and Daxon looked at each other quizzically and then they shrugged their shoulders. They were used to Timothy ignoring them anyway. But wasn't he supposed to tell them something?

When they looked at the computers, something caught Matthews' eyes. "What's that?" he asked, pointing a finger at one of the screens.

Finally, Timothy answered without making an effort to look at them. "One of the undercover cops' conversations with their boss,"

Matthew's eyes went wide and in an instant, the three of them were hovering behind Timothy.

"Let's hear it," Nic said at the same time that Mason came out of the bathroom already dressed in Timothy's clothes and drying his hair with Timothy's towel.

Timothy would have glared at Mason for using his towel and wearing his clothes without asking for permission if he is not too preoccupied.

Timothy pressed the play button and the recording of what seemed like a phone call filled the room.

"Sir," a voice came.

"Yes, give me something," An authoritative voice answered.

"I'm sorry, sir. But in the past few days, Mr. Latimer's schedule was filled with his philanthropic acts. He never meets anyone except for his secretary and then he attended a meeting in one of his companies," the first voice said, and then it was followed by silence.

After a while, the man who the first voice called Sir responded, "Did he talk to anyone on his phone?"

"He did but mostly, it was his ex-wife and secretary," Was the first voice's quick response.

"Okay. I already have someone tap on his phone and hack his email. Just give me updates but don't call me unless you got an important lead," The other voice said, making Matthew look at Timothy who just like him has a grim expression on his face.

"Yes, sir," The first voice said, and then the line was cut.

Matthew's back straightened as he stared at the monitor that now shows nothing. "That voice sounds familiar," He said. His job sometimes required meeting with government and military officials or people from high society. So he thought that he had heard the voice of the 'Sir' in the phone call but he just cannot seem to put a face to it.

"Did you get the location of the call?" Mason asked. This time, Timothy looked up at him and frowned when he realized what Mason was wearing. Timothy gave Mason a glare before he looked back at the monitor and pointed at something.

"Oh, right," Mason scratched the back of his neck. It looks like he didn't have to ask because Timothy had already got the location of the call. He just has to look at one of the monitors.

"That's an exclusive subdivision," Matthew said when he recognized the location that is shown on the monitor.

"That's where our grandparents' mansion is, right?" Daxon said, looking at Nic. Nic's father and Daxon's mother were siblings. That makes them cousins. Their grandparents lived in one of the most secure and exclusive subdivisions in the city.

Nic had a frown on his forehead when he replied, "Yeah. Most of the people who lived there were retired government officials and military officials. But there were still some who are in position,"